Weekly "Table Talk" story and questions by the author of the Art of Amazement. To subscribe to this blog via email, visit http://jsli.org .

Friday, February 20, 2015

For a Change

The purpose of this blog is to add something happy to your Shabbat table. Please print and share.This week: a question, followed by a story, followed by a question, followed by a really good piece of wisdom.

The first question for your table: Are you 100 percent happy with yourself, or is there something that you'd like to change?

I don't know about you, but I pay lip-service all the time to wanting to
change — like changing a bad habit to good or to improving a skill —
but I don't necessarily do anything about it, for months, for years.

But we weren't always like that.

Here's this week's story: On Sunday, our son Yoseph (5th grade) had a
special event at school. The entire grade had a celebratory brunch with
parents to receive their first Gamara - i.e., volume of the Talmud.

They were so excited! Everyone was dressed up for the occasion.

A few days before, Yoseph asked me to take him to the store to find a bow tie.

He was inspired by stories about my father - the grandfather he never knew - wearing a bow tie.

When you learn Talmud, you are swimming in a stream of tradition that
comes from your ancestors to you, and that will hopefully continue to
your children and grandchildren. Yoseph seems to intuit that
connection.... that even though his grandfather never learned Talmud,
certainly his great-great-(great?)-grandfathers did.

Go far enough back and we all descend from Torah scholars.

My Dad and Yoseph

But learning Talmud is hard - why would anyone want to put themselves through that?

Kids seem to love to learn (i.e., to change) in a way that many adults have lost.

We all know people who are struggling with losing weight, with quitting
smoking, with controlling their anger, with even getting out of bed on
time.

The obvious Question #2 for your table: Why do you think it's so hard?